Annie_Bella_8842

“They burned my kingdom to steal my crown. Now I’ll burn their world to take it back.”

Disguised as a street thief in the fire-walled city of Solara, Ember lives a life of shadows—until one mistake changes everything.

When she steals a forbidden crown from the royal vaults, Ember awakens a dangerous fire magic—and a past she’s tried to forget. She is the lost heir to the Flame Throne, daughter of a betrayed queen, and bearer of a cursed bloodline.

Now hunted by the tyrant king and haunted by the power of the Crown of Cinders, Ember’s only hope lies in the hands of a rebel mage with ice in his veins and secrets in his eyes. He should be her enemy. But his touch cools the flames that threaten to consume her—and sparks something even more dangerous than fire.

As war brews and kingdoms burn, Ember must choose:
Claim the love that could break her curse—or embrace the crown that could destroy them both.

Crown Of Cinder

The next morning, Ember awoke to Kael's fingers tracing idle lines along her spine.

For a long, quiet moment, they just lay there—bodies pressed together, breath mingling with the scent of ash and warmth.

"You could burn this whole place down," he murmured, voice low with awe. "And still I'd choose to lie beside you."

Ember turned her head, kissed his chest. "You make it sound like I'm dangerous."

There was no fear in his voice. Only reverence.

Later that day, Talon summoned her for training again.

But this time, it wasn't in the courtyard.

He took her into the upper caves—where the Forge Hall met the old tunnels used by the earliest rebels. The walls here pulsed faintly with old magic, etched with glyphs that shimmered under Ember's fingers.

"This place isn't just for hiding," Talon said as they walked. "It remembers."

Ember raised an eyebrow. "You sound like a poet again."

"I'm many things," Talon replied, pausing in front of a massive obsidian door. "A soldier. A strategist. And now, perhaps, your second sword."

She tilted her head. "What does that mean?"

He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he placed her hand on the door's surface.

It responded—glowing molten red.

Ember gasped as it slid open with a low growl.

Inside was a room of fire relics—ancient armor, weapons scorched with magic, scrolls sealed in glass tubes. But what drew her eyes… was the mural.

Painted across the stone was a flame-winged woman, wearing a crown that looked far too much like the one haunting Ember's dreams.

"That's the last Fire Queen," Talon said softly. "Your ancestor."

"She led the first rebellion," Talon continued. "Then vanished. They say she burned herself to ash to keep her power from being corrupted."

Ember stared at the painted eyes of the long-dead queen. Something inside her—deep and old and trembling—shifted.

"Because you need to remember who you are becoming."

Back in the forge, Kael waited in Ember's room, fingers restless, eyes shadowed.

When she returned, glowing faintly with magic and thoughts too heavy to name, he stood.

"Where were you?" he asked, gently.

She stepped closer, brushing her hand along his jaw. "He showed me something important. But he's not you."

Kael pulled her in, pressing her body to his. "I don't want to share you, Ember."

"You're not," she whispered. "But I'm not a flame to be caged."

His lips found hers then—hungry, possessive, desperate.

That night, they made love like the world was ending.

Like they were the last two sparks left in a dying fire.

Elsewhere – A Watcher in the Flame

Tharos stood before the Mirror once again, cloaked in red and black.

The Crown pulsed behind him, whispering secrets he no longer had to ask for.

He watched his daughter—wrapped in her lover's arms, bathing in the glow of her fire—and he smiled.

"She believes herself in control," he murmured.

"She is her mother's child. Passionate. Stubborn. Powerful."

Chapter 14: The Ghosts that sleep in the flame